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Sorrow
The Sorrow (a.k.a. Angel of Entropy) is a mysterious being that The Faultless Arrow encountered while raiding the laboratory of Archmage Zykora. Clues about Origin Although it seems to be extraordinarily powerful there is very little known about it. It is up to the party to piece together the clues for this enigma. From their encounters and other sources the Arrow has learned the following: * The Sorrow is from another plane that was visited by explorers from the Imperium. Using their portals she managed to invade the laboratory of Archmage Zykora. * Her shape is very unsettling, it seems to trigger some kind of primal fear in most beings. It is theorized that mortals can not actually perceive her true form as she is a being of higher dimensions. * She only appears in the entropic fog that covers her home plane. This red fog causes all things to decay, be it living creatures of lifeless items. She is either unable or unwilling to leave the fog, even to pursue her enemies. * She can not be killed by either force or magic, but powerful magical weapons do (somewhat) hurt her allowing for a chance to escape. * Those "attacked" by her seem to be mesmerized and happy to give up all their life force. Severing the connection between them is the only way to save the victim. * She seems to be able to take control of creatures (she did so with the mercenaries Samson and Ortram). These "'''corrupted"' creatures are not harmed by the entropic fog and can leave it to carry out her bidding. * She seems to be able to resurrect any creature under her control within the fog, even if they suffered catastrophic damage (e.g. Chad decapitated Samson and cleaved Ortarm in two, yet they were resurrected within seconds). * The "fog" is not a spell or an actual cloud. The Sorrow is merging her home plane with the Prime Material Plane and the areas already absorbed into her realm appear to be "covered by fog" Fortunately the Sorrow and those under her influence provide some clues, although mostly in an unknown language that is hard to decipher: * “''Kraibagum-izg ob Kibum;Thu-izg Gaium ob Burzum; Jashat Gurz agh Kalbasaun nagraufrom; Uluk dru izub timorsham Shapag!” Rough translation: "I am the Sorrow of Life; I broke the Chains of Darkness; Out of Death and Decay I rise; All shall fear my Vengeance! * "Augato kul mubilat. Pamto hontum Uluk". Rough translation: Her Eye is upon you. She sees All. * “''What was shall be again…''” Said by Haereldor while under her influence. * “''Izg Durub ob Kibum; Izub sharbtur narku mat!” '''Rough translation': "I am the Ruler of Life, My servants shall never die!" Fortunately Veneus Septim, a Directorium wizard corrupted by the Sorrow, was more forthcoming with information: * “''My mistress just wants what is hers, what is a part of her, what was taken by the Imperium. She has no quarrel with you, in fact she is grateful that you let her in. Just accept her embrace and you shall not fear Death any more.” '' * “''She was once so much more, but her Father abandoned Her, her brothers and sisters betrayed her, she was cursed to wither and die in a prison. As she withered in Darkness she wept not for herself but for her children who have been taken from her. Eons passed and now nothing is left of her just her Tears and her Sorrow. And now we even took her Tears. What you see is just shadow, a minor piece of her true self, the Sorrow, the only piece left."'' * "Let all Life in the World return to Her, who created it, who was murdered for it." The Goddess of Life The Faultless Arrow finally uncovered the identity of the Sorrow when they visited a temple of Vecna, God of Secrets.They learned that the Sorrow is the last remnant of the Goddess of Life, a deity that the other Gods erased from history. She was uninterested in the war between Light and Dark, instead she merged the two to create Life. This led to great envy from her siblings who joined forces to take her power. In the Overgod Ao intervened and she was locked away into a prison plane. She languished in her prison for eons, slowly withering away and driven mad by loneliness. Her solitude was interrupted by the Imperium, who (in their greed for power) punctured the barrier around her prison. They desired the "divine amber" that was abundant in her plane, not knowing that those were the crystallized tears of a suffering god. What remained of the goddess, the Sorrow, lashed out at the invaders and soon discovered a loophole to her imprisonment: she could not leave her plane, but she could merge it with other planes, integrating them into her prison. She set out to reclaim her "children", to take back all life in the Universe. The other Gods were still bound by the decree of Ao and could not harm her. But they also found a loophole: they manipulated the perception of the Sorrow, turning her children against her, in the hope that they will destroy the mad god before she can consume the Universe. Curse of the Sorrow "Lat Bolvag, Lat Grop; Ukil Burzum-ishi krimpuz agh U marrlat!” Rough translation: "You are Cursed; You are Hollow; Forever bound in Darkness and consumed by Hunger" This is the curse that the enraged Sorrow cast on The Faultless Arrow. At first the party seemed unaffected by the curse but a few days later they started noticing a strange sense of emptiness in themselves. No drink could quite quench their thirst and no food could fully satisfy their hunger. Ravagella’s spirit was no longer lifted by music, Haereldor was no longer comforted by gold, Damos no longer heard the words of Pelor, Virginia meditated for days without finding answers, and (worst of all) Chad no longer enjoyed the taste of dwarven mead. It seems the curse of the Sorrow was real. The party feel a growing void inside them that demands to be filled. Later they found that the curse seems to have gifted them the ability to sense the souls of the recently deceased and consume them.This alleviates the effects of the curse and grants a short period of ecstasy (but the hunger returns stronger than ever). With enough willpower it is possible to resist the temptation to consume souls, but it makes the cursed hunger even more powerful. Later the party learned that they are the victims of a Soul Eater curse. A divine being has taken a sliver of their soul and replaced it with an infinite void that slowly feeds on the rest. By consuming a soul they can temporarily feel the void, granting them a short reprieve. But the more they feed, the faster their hunger grows. In time the curse will consume their minds, turning them into empty, immortal husks with the only desire to feed. So far the party has experienced the following levels of the curse: * Ecstasy (lasts 10 rounds): +4 to all abilities (all rolls +2), +1 standard action per round, can be used immediately (The Essence fills your body and mind and you are overcome by a feeling of ecstasy. Your eyesight sharpens, your arms strengthen, your mind races as the world seems to slow down around you. None can stand in your way now.) * Satisfied (lasts 0.5-1 day): no extra effects (You have been missing a piece and the Essence filled up the void inside you.) * Empty: -2 to all abilities (You feel a strange sensation of emptiness. Whatever it is you are weaker than you used to be.) * Craving: -4 to all abilities (You are hungry, the void inside you grows, your mind and body cries out for relief) * Wasting Away: -6 to all abilities, character can not run or carry out feats of strength or dexterity ("You are weak, you feel yourself fading. You can barely carry on.") * Bloodlust: -8 to all abilities, character has lost control and desperately wants to consume a soul. He/she will attack anyone on sight. ("They have It, they are hiding it from you! You must have it! You shall take it from them.") As a side effect of the curse the party seems to have gained a form of immortality. After suffering a fatal wound their soul does not (or maybe can not) depart to the dominion of their gods in the Outer Planes, instead it lingers while their bodies slowly come back to life. This ordeal is exhausting and tremendously increases the severity of the curse. Prayer and meditation has proven to be effective at suppressing the Hunger, but it takes an extraordinary amount of willpower to do so. Final Fate She thought that the Gods use Life to feed themselves and care nothing for Her creations. During their journey in Eremus Minor the Arrow learned that the Sorrow plans to merge all planes of existence with hers thus removing mortals from the Gods' sphere of influence. This will starve the Gods of power and they will soon fade and she will be the only divine being left (except Ao). She promised to build a new, just world, but the Arrow decided not to trust her. With the help of The Faultless Arrow the Minthras Imperium assembled the Godhammer, a magical device that can destroy a divine being. Under the command of Prince Gregor the imperial forces have lured the Sorrow into a trap (they used the remaining Tears they had). But the Sorrow proved to be stronger than they anticipated and she broke the shackles before the bomb could go off. In the end Prince Gregor sacrificed himself to pin the Sorrow in place for the detonation of the Godhammer. The Sorrow was destroyed, all under her influence were liberated and the fog retreated to her (now empty) prison plane. With the destruction of the Sorrow her curse was also lifted. But can a God truly be destroyed?Category:People Category:Events